Safety pin



y 30, 1967 E. SCHEEMAEKER 3,321,312

SAFETY PIN Filed July 12, 1965 INVENTOR EMILIE SCHEEMAEKER %m ATTORNEY United States Patent f 3,321,812 SAFETY PEN Emile Scheernaeker, 188 Broad St,

Providence, RI. 029% rues .luiy 12, 1965, Ser. No. 471,141 2 Qiaims. (111. 24-458) My present invention relates to safety pins and more particularly to a safety pin having locking means for preventing the withdrawal of the pointed end accidentally.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a safety pin with a novel lock guard construction which prevents accidental opening of the pin.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a safety pin with a lock guard construction in which the pin is retained in closed position regardless of the accidental movement of the guard member.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety pin and lock guard construction in which the lock guard member is permanently attached to the pin and cannot be accidentally removed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety pin and lock construction which is extremely simpie in operation requiring only a small sliding lock mern- A further object of the present invention is to provide a safety pin and lock construction which is simple in construction and easy and economical to manufacture and assemble.

With the above and other objects and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel arrangement of parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more particularly defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lock safety pin embodying my present invention in locked position.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of the same.

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line 3-3 on FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the locking device showing the side opposite that shown in FIG. 2.

The conventional safety pin comprises a length of spring wire bent into a U-sha-pe. One end of the wire is sharpened and the other end of the wire is fixed to a hood or cap having a slot into which the pointed end can be guided to hold it in closed positions. Such pins have the disadvantage in that they can be easily opened through accident or carelessness and the pointed end then causes injury. When the pin is used as a diaper pin the many folds of cloth straining on the pointed arm usually make it easy to accidentally open.

It has thus become desirable to provide such pins with additional lock guards to prevent accidental opening of the pin. These lock guards are usually in the form of a safety sheath shaped like the original cap and slidable thereover such as illustrated in the patent to Young, No. 1,546,697 issued July 21, 1925. Some of these pins are also made with plastic heads or caps so that either two relatively slida'ble plastic caps or hoods are provided or the base metal hood or cap is provided with a plastic hood or cap slidable thereover. All of these constructions have been found to be comparatively expensive to manufacture and assemble and the various means that have been provided to retain the slidable cap or hood over the fixed one have in many instances been found inadequate. Furthermore, after the pin has been used, the sliding cap becomes loose and will no longer stay in locking position. If the pin is left accidentally on a garment sent to the laundry, it will be found that the violent washing action of a commercial laundry has a tendency to rip the plastic pins apart.

3,3 2 i ,8 1 Z Patented May 39, 19b? While the present invention can readily be manufactured from plastic material or from a combination of a plastic cap or hood and a metal locking member, I prefer to use a completely metallic construction as illustrated in the drawings.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the pin of the present invention comprises a conventional spring wire bent to form two legs 10 and 11 connected by an integral coiled end 12 which imparts the spring movement to the legs and arms 10 and 11. I now provide a hood or cap 13 preferably stamped and molded from sheet metal such as stainless steel. The hood 13 form a flat housing one side of which is pinched at 14 to lock it on to the arm or leg 10 in the conventional manner. The hood 13 of the present invention is designed to form a housing 15 between the spaced parallel walls 16 of the hood 13. Approaching the front edge the walls 16 are separated by a slot 17. The ends of the walls 16 surrounding the slot are bent inwardly as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 terminating with outwardly bent ends 13 in opposite directions for a purpose hereinafter to be described. One wall 16 of the hood 13 is provided with a slot 19 which extends from a point spaced from the bottom edge 21 as seen in FIG. 2 in spaced parallel relation to the edge having a slot 17 and then hooks inwardly at 21 adjacent the upper end. The opposite wall 16 is provided with a detent 22 at a point opposite the bottom edge of the slot 19.

Locking action is provided in two different ways. First of all, when the pin is being moved from its open position as shown by the dotted line position of the arm 11 in FIG. 2 to the closed position illustrated in full lines, the arm 11 is pushed through the slot portion 17 until it passes the ends 18. The arm can then be released to move on either side of the central slot into the round pocket 23 formed on each side by the reentrantly bent portion of the walls 16. In the form illustrated in FIG. 3, the pin arm 11 has been moved into the socket portion 23 to the left of the slot 17. Now if the arm 11 is accidentally depressed. it may very well slide back into the socket portion 23 or even across to the one on the opposite side. In order for the pin to open, the arm 11 must be guided outwardly between the ends 18 of the walls 16 and through the slot 17. This provides a more difficult opening passageway for preventing haphazard movement of the arm 11. However, a more positive lock is provided by the use of the small slide lock member 24. The member 24 is a small strip of metal bent into a U-shape so that it fits over the edge of the hood 13 across the slot 17 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. One arm of the lock member 24 is provided with a rivet 25 which extends through the slot 19 and the wall 16 and has an enlarged head 26 inside to positively lock the member 24 to the cap 13. The other arm of the member 24 is provided with a detent 27. When the member 24 is in the position shown in FIG. 4, the detent 27 will nest in the detent or depression 22 in the wall 16 as shown in FIG. 3.

Operation of the lock member is now apparent. To use the pin, the lock member 24 is slid upwardly so that the detent 27 snaps out of the depression 22 and the member slides along the slot 19 across the slot 17 until it swings to the dotted line position shown in FIG. 2 at the top of the cap 13. The slot 17 is now wide open and the arm 11 can now be manipulated so that it enters the slot 17 and moves into the nested positions 23. The lock member 24 is then moved downwardly into the position illustrated until the detent 27 snaps into the depression 22 to releasably lock it into the illustrated position. This now effectively prevents removal of the arm 11. Note that the spring tension of the arm 11 is against the pocket 23 and not on the lock member 24. This allows a user a to slide the lock member to open position with one hand without the pin suddenly springing open.

The various parts including the ca and the slide lock can all be stamped from sheet stock. If desired the cap 13 can be made of plastic material and the slide lock member 24 can merely be stamped from a small piece of metal. Furthermore, the entire construction can also be made of plastic material. It is believed that the device will operate regardless of the material, the only consideration being cost and appearance. With one side of the pin provided with no slots whatsoever the broad face thereof can be provided with an identifying initial 28 either by stamping into the metal or attaching a separate ornamental initial. This permits identification and enhances the commercial value of the pin. Furthermore small pins of this type are occasionally used for holding flowers and boutonnieres and the use of initials on a gold plated pin would be important for such uses.

The construction of the present invention is fairly simple and in tact less expensive than other lock type safety pins now conventionally being made. The device is more effective than those now on the market and has a more positive locking action. Other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A safety pin comprising a spring Wire bent into a U-s'hape to form a pair of spring arms, one of said arms being sharpened, a cap having spaced walls integrally connected at a U-bend, said U-bend being pinched around said other arm to mount said cap on said spring arms, the free edges of said cap Walls defining a slot, said sharp arm being adapted to enter said slot into said cap, and means for locking said sharp arm in said cap, said locking means comprises a member slidably mounted on said cap across said sharp arm slot, one wall of said cap being provided with a slot, said slide member comprising a U- shaped strip embracing said slotted edge, one wall of said strip having a rivet extending into said wall slot to lock said sliding member in s-lidable engagement with said cap, a pair of pockets inside the front edge of each cap wall, said cap walls being reentrantly bent to form said pockets, said sharp arm entering between the inwardly bent ends of said cap walls and resting in one of said pockets, nesting detents on said slide member and adjacent cap wall for releasably holding said slide member in locking position, said rivet and nesting detents having portions thereof extending inwardly of the strip from opposite sides thereof to form with the free edges of the pocets means for frictionally resisting inadvertent withdrawal of the point from within an associated pocket.

2. A safety pin comprising a spring wire bent into a U-shape to form a pair of spring arms, one of said arms being sharpened, a cap having spaced Walls integrally connected at a U-bend, said U-bend being pinched around said other arm to mount said cap on said spring arms, the free edges of said cap walls defining a slot, said sharp arm being adapted to enter said slot into said cap, means for locking said sharp arm in said cap, and means for releasably retaining said sharp arm in said cap, said retaining means comprises a pair of pockets inside the front edge of each cap wall, said cap walls being reentrantly bent to form said pockets, said sharp arm entering between the inwardly bent ends of said cap walls and nesting in said pockets, the side walls of said cap being solid, said slot defining the only entrance into said cap for said sharp arm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 362,780 5/1887 Pickhardt 24156 1,108,786 8/ 1914 Pyron 24-156 1,469,089 9/ 1923 Johnson 24-241 2,854,720 10/1958 Burbig 24-156 FOREIGN PATENTS 412,145 4/1910 France.

714,626 9/1931 France.

586,921 10/ 1933 Germany.

42,287 2/ 1903 Switzreland.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Examiner. 

2. A SAFETY PIN COMPRISING A SPRING WIRE BENT INTO A U-SHAPE TO FORM A PAIR OF SPRING ARMS, ONE OF SAID ARMS BEING SHARPENED, A CAP HAVING SPACED WALLS INTEGRALLY CONNECTED AT A U-BEND, SAID U-BEND BEING PINCHED AROUND SAID OTHER ARM TO MOUNT SAID CAP ON SAID SPRING ARMS, THE FREE EDGES OF SAID CAP WALLS DEFINING A SLOT, SAID SHARP ARM BEING ADAPTED TO ENTER SAID SLOT INTO SAID CAP, MEANS FOR LOCKING SAID SHARP ARM IN SAID CAP, AND MEANS FOR RELEASABLY RETAINING SAID SHARP ARM IN SAID CAP, SAID RETAINING MEANS COMPRISES A PAIR OF POCKETS INSIDE THE FRONT 